A controversial plan to build more than 100 houses on the site of Abbey Stadium, in north Swindon, could be approved next week.
It’s expected that the proposals by stadium owner Gaming International will be up for discussion and decision by councillors on Swindon Borough Council’s planning committee which meets next week on Tuesday, March 10.
If it is, Gaming International can expect opposition from the public to its plans to knock down the half-built new stadium and build 130 houses in its place.
More than 30 residents have written to council planners about the scheme, in opposition.
In two linked applications, Gaming International wants use build 130 houses and flats largely on the site of the actual race track and infield in two irregular arcs, bisected by a main road running west to east with the main access road being to the north from Lady Lane.
The second application concerns the already existing new stadium buildings, built as part of the venue’s unfinished refurbishment.
Gaming International’s plan is to use some of the buildings, which are north of the site for housing, for a community centre with a convenience shop, a café and a sports club and leisure facilities for those using outdoor facilities, with those proposed to be cricket practice nets and five padel courts.
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One objection from a Blunsdon resident said: “The stadium is a place where families enjoy affordable nights out, local businesses benefit from increased footfall and a sense of community pride is fostered through shared experience.
“Removing these facilities strips away yet another space where residents can gather, socialise, and feel part of something bigger.”
Another wrote: “I write in hope that we don’t turn another Swindon landmark into a gaggle of houses that could be placed anywhere, when in fact we could repurpose this historic ground and use it for sports which could even bring people to Swindon.
“I appreciate houses are needed, but at what cost? The cost of young people missing out on sports? At the cost of an older couple not being able to socialize with other sport lovers?”
There are a number of letters in support of the application, including from Game4 Padel, a Glasgow-based company that operates padel courts nationwide.
Stephen Park, a director of Swindon Speedway 2013 Ltd, which owns 50 per cent of the Swindon Robins Speedway team, has also written in support of Gaming International’s proposals.
He said: “In September 2022 it was concluded that speedway racing was not an economically viable proposition and the directors of Swindon Speedway announced the cessation of racing at Abbey Stadium.
“The refusal of the redevelopment of the redundant Abbey Stadium cannot save speedway racing at the Abbey.”
A public meeting called by local councillors Kate Tomlinson, Jake Chandler and Daniel Adams recently showed there was a significant appetite among nearby residents to keep the stadium as a leisure and sports facility, perhaps as a home for Swindon College Old Boys RFC.
As well as proposing houses on the site of Abbey Stadium, Gaming International is part of the consortium behind a plan for a new motorsports venue in Studley Grange, just outside the borough boundaries in south west Swindon.
That matter is with Wiltshire Council planners, and despite an initial prediction for a decision last November, nothing has been decided yet.
Swindon Borough Council’s planning committee will meet at 6pm on March 10.
Members of the public are entitled to attend.
